Pillars of the Ascended
by DarkReaper3232
Summary: Continuing the story of James Marx, he finds himself bored of the Mercenary life. When an opportunity arises to show off his true talent in the organization called Maximum Prime, he jumps on it. Rising through the ranks he realizes things may be too good to be true and remembers not everyone can be trusted. Rated M for Violence, Language, and other content.
1. Wanted World Wide

**Chapter 1**

**Wanted World Wide**

Sandra and I stood atop a small mountain, overlooking the WWW base. She leaned up against my motorcycle, sharpening her knives, her dark red hair flowing in the wind. Never one for much armor, all she had on was a tank top with her sword and throwing knife holsters, cargo pants with a machine pistol on her right leg. I stood not too far away looking through a pair of binoculars, scanning the base. My black trench coat flapped in the wind. My black hair up in a ponytail danced around the handles of my swords on my back.

"So why are we killing these guys again?" Sandra asked me.

"Because they are scum. Just like everyone else we've been paid to get rid of." I replied. "They kill innocents for not following their beliefs and joining their 'cause'."

"And that 'cause' would be?" Sandra asked, twirling a throwing knife. I put down the binoculars and walked back to my bike.

"World domination." I replied putting the binoculars in the pouch hanging on the side of my bike. "They are terrorists, no better than anyone else we have killed." I said, peering over my shoulder towards the base, tightening my gauntlets.

"Well, let's go then!" Sandra shouted.

With a faint grin, I nodded and climbed onto the bike.

"Remember the plan?" I asked, cranking the bike.

"Sure do. This will be easy." Sandra replied, getting on the back.

"_Let's hope so…"_ I thought to myself.

We took off down the mountain pass to the base.

000

_You may be wondering who I am. I'm James Marx, former Head of Security for Siciliyz Finest Men and Women, mercenary, bounty hunter, assassin, vigilante, Angel of Death, the list goes on. Me and my very good friends were the most powerful mafia family in the US, well at least until the government took over… but that's another story._

_Me and my partner, Lisandra (or Sandra for short) have been tasked to take down the terrorist group Wanted World Wide, a ruthless gang that has wreaked havoc over the last few years._

_It's just us two going in…no backup… one chance…_

000

We rode up to the front gate of the small base. For their main HQ, it was kind of small. All cameras pointed to us. A voice came over the small speaker.

"State your business or we open fire."

"My name is Reaper and this is my partner. We are here for a job. Kane should be expecting us." I replied

There was silence on the speaker for a while. I looked up at the towers and noticed snipers. Each one with guns pointed at us, ready to fire.

"Enter Mr. Reaper. Lord Kane is expecting you." The voice said.

The gates opened up and we rode inside. I parked the bike outside the main building. We got off and headed towards the door. The doors opened and a man with a tablet walked outside.

"You are…" he started, then took a look at his tablet and nodded. "James 'Reaper' Marx?"

"Yeah, that's me." I replied.

"And your partner is Miss Lisandra…?"

"Yes sir." She replied.

"Right this way." The man said. He turned and walked back inside. I shrugged at Sandra, who replied with one of her own. We followed the man into the building.

We walked down a long hallway leading into what I guess to be the lobby area. For a small base, it looked quite well on the inside. Paintings lined the walls, all showing respect to the leader and his commanders. As we entered the lobby, the man walked to the desk and talked to the young woman behind it.

I gave a glance to Sandra. She was a bit nervous. She had never had this big of a job to do.

"This way." The man said to me.

We both started to walk but he held his hand out, stopping Sandra.

"She must stay here."

I turned and looked back at her and nodded. She nodded back and leaned up against a wall, her arms crossed.

I turned and continued to walk with the man. At the end of the long hallway, we came to an elegant set of double doors. He pushed them open into a lavish office. Almost everything was gold plated or solid gold itself.

A large desk sat near the back with a chair turned backwards. As the doors closed, the chair spun around. A large, muscular, black man sat in the chair.

"Welcome to WWW HQ. I am Lord Kane, leader of this glorious organization." He said.

"_Great… another egotistical maniac…"_

"And you must be the famous Reaper I've heard so much about."

"Yeah. The one and only." I replied. Kane let out a laugh and motioned for me to take a seat.

000

Sandra stayed leaned up against the wall in the lobby, arms crossed. The woman behind the desk took leave and a man replaced her. He kept eyeing Sandra. Every time she glanced over, he gave off a sadistic grin. Sandra watched the clock intently.

"Ok, it's been ten minutes… time to go to work." She said to herself.

As she stood up straight and began to move, the man stood up and walked up to her.

"Hey doll. Where do you think you're goin?" he asked, slightly pushing her up against another wall.

"Oh me? Just admiring the beautiful paintings." She nervously replied.

"Well, I must say, you are one helluva work of art yourself" he said, touching her exposed arm.

She gave off a faint shudder, but then decided to play along.

"You cold sweetheart? I can warm you up" he said, leaning closer in.

"Sure, let's have some fun!" Sandra replied. She touched a button on her wrist device and a high pitched whine sounded. She glanced up at the camera and saw the light was off. She triggered a short range, controlled EMP.

Grabbing the man by both his shoulders, she kneed him right in the balls, causing him to fall over in pain. As he lay on the floor she made her way to the vent and began to undo the screws.

"You fucking bitch!" the man shouted, trying to stand up. Sandra spun around and saw him pulling his gun out. She responded quickly and tossed a razor sharp throwing knife at him and landed right between his eyes.

She got the rest of the vent cover off and laid it behind the desk. Sandra retrieved her throwing knife and dragged the body into the vent with her, to hide it easily.

"Damn… good thing the vent was ground level…" she thought to herself.

Crawling through the small vents, she made her way to an area of the compound that was over the weapons department. She reached into a pouch on her belt and laid down a small explosive charge. She continued on going to the next location.

000

"So you've been a killer since childhood" Kane asked me.

"Yes." I replied. "There isn't any type of job I can't do. Anything from protection to assassination, you name it, I can do it."

"Excellent…" Kane said leaning back in his chair and crossing his fingers. "You will be just the man for the job."

"Well, what is it then?" I impatiently asked.

Kane turned to face a door on the opposite side of the room. "Girls!" he shouted, clapping his hands. Out walked two women, both wearing lingerie and one was holding a briefcase. The both stood on each side of Kane's "throne". One of them looked oddly familiar…

"Emma!" Kane said, snapping his fingers.

She looked over to him and nodded.

"_Oh hell… just wait till kitty finds out about this…"_

She walked over to me and handed me the case. I stood up and looked her dead in the eyes. Her gaze could hardly meet mine as I could see guilt in her eyes.

As she handed me the case, she whispered, "James, get me out of this hell."

She turned and walked back over to Kane. He looked at the other woman.

"Destiny!" he said again snapping his fingers. He slid his chair back and she knelt down in front of him under his desk. I knew what was coming. I just turned my head.

"So, in that case is a list of key members from smaller factions that need to be… taken care of." Kane said.

I opened the case and took a look inside. Several sheets of paper were inside, each with detailed info on each target. Many of them I have seen as members of other families when SFM was in power.

As I looked through the files, I heard a small rumble coming from the vent above us. I cocked my eyes up towards it.

"_Dammit Sandra! Quietly!"_

"What the hell is that noise?" Kane asked.

Sounds like you got mice problems." I joked. Kane snarled and looked up towards the vent again.

A loud creaking noise came from above us. Suddenly, the vent snapped in two and Sandra tumbled out, hitting the floor, sending dust everywhere. I jumped back a step and Kane stood up in shock. Destiny peered her head over the desk to see the noise. Emma backed herself into a corner.

Sandra looked around the room to see everyone staring her down.

"Damn big termites you got there Kane!" I joked.

"Kill this mother fucker and his bitch!" Kane shouted, pointing at us.

I kicked the chair behind me and it slid into one guard, stunning him and pushing him against a wall. Turning to my right, I gave a spinning kick to the face of another one.

Sandra sprung up from the ground and tackled a guard who was trying to rush me from behind and proceeded to pound his face in. Another guard grabbed her from behind and pulled her off the one, but she responded with a flexible kick to his face and loosening his grip on her.

I ran towards the chair and drew my sword. As the guard tried to push the chair away, I stabbed straight through it, impaling him to the wall. I drew my other sword and sliced through his throat.

Sandra drew a knife and stabbed the downed guard in the head. As she was standing up, the other guard rushed her again. I threw a knife at him, which landed in his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. As he turned to face me, Sandra reached up and slit his throat. As he fell, she pulled my knife out and tossed it back to me.

Kane stood cowering behind his desk. Destiny and Emma held themselves in the corner.

Sandra and I walked around each side of his desk, keeping him between us. Kane panicked and leapt over his desk and ran for the door. Sandra and I simultaneously tossed throwing knives at his legs, right above his heels. He hit the floor and yelled out in pain.

"What the fuck do you want from me!? Who the fuck are you!?" Kane screamed.

I walked over to him, pulling out my pistol with a suppressor on it and pointed at his head.

"I'm the Angel of Death." I coldly replied, and pulled the trigger. One single bullet hole was in his forehead.

I holstered my gun and got my knife back. I turned towards Emma and motioned for her to follow.

"This place is rigged to blow. Sandra, how long?" I said.

She looked down at her watch and looked back at me. "Two minutes!"

"Fuck! RUN!" I shouted.

We busted down the doors and ran for the exit, shooting our way out. Sandra and I jumped on my bike while Emma and Destiny made their way to a parked van outside. We all drove as fast as we could away from the compound, avoiding shots as we drove.

We all made it about half a mile up the road then…

**-BOOM-**

Explosions rang out from the base, blowing it all sky high. We stopped to watch the destruction. WWW was no more.

"After all I have done, you still help me?" Emma asked.

I turned to her and said, "You better be glad it was me who found you instead of Kitty."

Emma looked down at the ground.

"Get out of here Emma. Go wherever you need to. Just stay out of these groups." I said sternly.

She nodded and drove away with Destiny. I sat there for a minute on my bike, thinking to myself.

"Well that was fun. Who's next?" Sandra asked in a giddy tone.

"Let's take a break for a while." I replied.

"Sounds good to me. I'm tired." Sandra said.

We headed towards the city for a much earned rest.

**Hey guys. Sorry for such a long absence. I plan on making it up to you all. We are continuing the adventures of James Marx. What will be in store for him next? Find out next time. Take care!**


	2. Maximum Prime

**Chapter 2**

**Maximum Prime**

After I dropped Sandra off at her apartment, I decided I needed a good drink. I headed towards Sully's Bar, a local hangout for mercs, bounty hunters, and other folks looking to profit from some type of killing. I parked my bike outside and walked in.

"Oh shit! Reaper in the house!" I heard the bartender shout. A smirked crawled across my lips. I walked up to the bar and took a seat on one of the stools.

"The usual?" the bartender asked. I nodded my head.

"Jack on rocks, coming up!"

I sat and looked around. There were always new faces here. Young hot-headed kids that thought they were ten feet tall and bulletproof and older veterans that knew, as well as I do, how hard it is to do this line of work.

"On the house, Reaper." the bartender said, sitting my drink down in front of me.

"Thanks bud." I replied. As I took a drink, I felt a hand pat me on the shoulder. I turned to see my old partner, best friend and brother.

"Hey bro." he said.

"What's up Doc?" I replied, shaking his hand.

"Not shit." he said, sitting down on a stool. "Just bagged a couple bounties. Made some nice money. What have you been up to?"

"I just took out WWW." I replied, with a devilish smirk. Doc looked at me in disbelief, but then shook his head and laughed.

"You never did like Kane did you?" he asked.

"Fuck no." I replied. Both of us chuckled.

The bartender came back and sat Doc's drink down.

"Anything interesting happen?" he asked.

"Well… I ran into Emma." I said. Doc about choked on his drink, coughing hard.

"You WHAT?" he asked.

"You heard me. Emma was in WWW as a whore for Kane." I replied. Doc stared at me for a moment, eyes wide.

"Well, no surprise she'd be Kane's bitch…" Doc said.

"She wasn't the only one. There was another who went down on him WHILE I was talking to him." I replied. Doc erupted in laughter.

We sat at the bar, chatting and catching up for some time. The door to the bar swung open and a group of men walked in. We turned to look at them.

One guy, who looked about to be in his mid-forties and Caucasian, was clad in heavy armor and had a gold plated bow on his back and a machine pistol on each leg.

Another man, who looked about the same age, wore an armored robe. He had the same type of bow as the first and had a large double bladed staff on his back.

The third man looked to be the youngest. He looked about my age, early-mid thirties. He wore light armor. He had a gold plated assault rifle with a highly elegant design. He had pistols attached to his forearms and a sword on his hip.

The received quite a few stares from the rest of the people inside the bar. They made their way to the bulletin board and posted some things on it. After that, the turned and walked out of the bar.

I glanced over at Doc, who replied with a shrug. I walked over to the board and examined the note.

**Maximum Prime**

**Mercenary Organization**

**Now recruiting!**

**For more information, contact the leaders.**

**Rhino – Warlord, Founder**

**Tech – Warlord, Co-Founder**

**Mesa – General**

**Nova – Officer**

**Enlist Today!**

I glanced over the note and decided to see what this was all about. I walked outside and saw them at a station near the metro entrance.

"Excuse me!" I shouted, making my way over to them. Two of them turned to see me, the other barely made notice.

"I, uh, saw you guys in the bar a second ago. What's this Maximum Prime thing yall got goin' on here?" I asked.

The younger one came up to meet me.

"Oh, are you here to join up?" he asked. I'm Tim, codename Mesa. One of the Generals of MP." he said, stretching out his hand.

"_The kid has enthusiasm… not bad…"_

"I'm James Marx." I replied, shaking his hand.

"Wait, THE James Marx? As in Reaper?" he asked, not letting go of my hand. I nodded my head.

"Well I'll be damned." the heavily armored man said, making his way to me. "I'm Barlow, codename Rhino. It's an honor to meet the renowned Grim Reaper."

I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you guys too. Could you tell me exactly what you guys are? I have to say I haven't really ever seen you around, nor your weaponry and armor." I replied.

"This is state-of-the-art Orokin gear." Tim said.

"Orokin?" I said. "I thought they went out of business a long time ago. Didn't the Government shut them down?"

"They closed them to the public." Barlow replied. "They forced Orokin to make gear for them instead. Made them inaccessible to the public. After the war, the workers refined their work and began making newer and more enhanced gear and sold them to PMCs. We bought them out and own Orokin now."

I stood there trying to process this whole thing…

"_A mercenary group that OWNS the most powerful military supplier in the country?..."_

"If you join, there won't be any problem with you being a high rank right off the bat. You ARE the legendary Reaper." Barlow said. "We'd be honored to have you among our ranks."

"What's going on here?" a voice sounded.

Barlow turned to see the robed man standing facing him, his hands behind his back.

"Tech, this is James Marx, The Grim Reaper. I just offered him a spot as an officer." Barlow replied to the man.

The man who must be 'Tech' looked at me. He had an air about him that stunk. Seemed like one of those guys that likes to talk shit and have other people do his work for him. I could tell he was an arrogant sonovabitch.

"Shouldn't this be a Warlord discussion, Rhino?" he asked.

"Oh come on, Tech. This is THE Reaper. It would be stupid of us to not offer him something good." Barlow said.

"Well, he would need to be tested before we let him in anyway…" Tech said, turning around and walking back to his table.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Barlow said, following Tech. "I will not pass up a chance to get such a renowned fighter in my organization. And you seem to forget who runs this, Tech. MP is MINE. I have the final say. Got it?"

Tech slowly nodded. Barlow walked back over to me.

"It is settled then." he said. "You will be an officer, which is the third highest rank. In about one to two days we'll have made you your key to the dojo and badge to wear. We usually test out our new recruits, but with you being who you are, I don't think that will be necessary."

"Oh, you can test me out. I always welcome a challenge." I replied. Barlow's face brightened up.

"Excellent! Welcome to Maximum Prime." he said, stretching out his hand. I smiled and shook his hand.

"Glad to have you on board." Tim said, shaking my hand as well. "We'll keep in contact."

I nodded and walked back inside the bar. Doc was still there, sipping on his drink. He turned to look at me.

"Well?" he asked.

"I joined."

"Really?"

Yeah, manly for grins and giggles. What's the worst that could happen?"

"You end up killing everyone in there."

Doc and I laughed. "We'll have to wait and see." I said. "I'm heading home. Take care brother."

"Later bro!" Doc said.

I hopped on my bike and headed back to my house a few miles outside The Hub. I got inside, took my gear off and laid down for the night.


End file.
